As communications networks become more common, the number of communications networks continues to increase. While a node may be common to multiple networks, for routing, security and/or other reasons, it may be desirable to route traffic over one network rather than another. Accordingly, in cases where a node corresponds to two different networks, for a given destination address it may be desirable for the node common to the two networks to route a particular packet over a particular one of a plurality of different paths, where the different paths may correspond to different networks. Thus, while it may be desirable for an individual node to be able to belong to multiple different networks concurrently, this complicates the routing of packets, particularly where it may be desirable to control routing of packets to a particular network.
In view of the above discussion, it should be appreciated that there is a need for methods and apparatus supporting packet routing which allow for different packet routes based on network affiliation. For example, it would be desirable if, in at least some embodiments, nodes which are common to overlapping networks could be implemented to perform packet routing in such a manner that, for at least some packets, a packet received from one network will not be routed over a second network, even if the destination node is reachable via the second network via a shorter route than it can be reached via the first network. Thus, it should be appreciated that methods and/or apparatus which can allow nodes belonging to a first network to be able to exchange packets between one another while keeping the routed packets within the first network would be desirable. While not necessary for all embodiments, it would be particularly desirable if at least some embodiments allowed for the dynamic formation and/or maintenance of overlapping networks, e.g., overlapping peer-to-peer ad hock networks.